Summer School 2026
Over three days, from the 7th to the 9th of October 2026, the RTG 2753 gathered for its fourth Summer School at the Seehotel Töpferhaus in Alt Duvenstedt. Away from the daily routine of their labs, our PhD students and postdocs of the 2nd cohort, as well as our PIs, PIs came together by the lake to share ideas, results and open questions.
We were delighted to welcome three guest speakers. Prof. Dr. Tanja Jovanovic (Wayne State University) opened the programme with a lecture on the short-, long- and very long-term effects of trauma exposure. Prof. Dr. Oriel FeldmanHall (Brown University) spoke about how emotion helps us navigate our social worlds, and Prof. Dr. Joseph E. Dunsmoor (University of Texas at Austin) closed the meeting with his work on the organization of fear and safety in the human brain. All three guests took part in the discussions beyond their talks and gave valuable input to our PhD students and postdocs.
The heart of the event was the work of our PhD students and postdocs, presented in three rounds of lightning talks and three poster sessions. The discussions around the posters provided the members of our 2nd cohort with fresh feedback for their ongoing projects.
Another highlight of the Summer School was the special interest event focused on “Challenges in Research on Emotional Learning and Memory”, organised independently by our PhD students and postdocs.
Of course, there was time for more than science. We enjoyed a campfire on the first evening, a friendly volleyball and table tennis tournament followed by a BBQ on the second day, and a guided yoga session to start the last morning.
We returned to Hamburg with new ideas, fresh motivation and many good memories for the new academic year!
